The Shadow Dragons

The Shadow Dragons is the fourth in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series by James A. Owen, and, for those who have been following the series from the beginning, it carries on in the same style. Owen introduces new characters to mingle with the more familiar faces and brings the reader deeper into the world of the Imaginarium Geographica and the caretakers who look after it. Owen references many literary and historical figures and the different backgrounds are all interwoven into the narrative allowing the reader to be caught up in their world. On a slightly critical note, it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of who’s who, given the large cast of characters, but the literary references do add an extra dimension show more to the narrative. These characters are based on well-known people such as Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe and many others. Simply from associations with the names I found that they had already taken form in my mind. One of the book’s strengths is that it carries these associations forward, sometimes challenging them, and in doing so the names became enriched. In the author's note, Owen says that he guessed at some of this additional detail as the same level of publicly available information is not available for everyone, but for him this was one of the most intriguing parts of writing the book: figuring out which character would be on which side. It was certainly one of the most intriguing parts of reading it: I found myself questioning my knowledge about the famous names I thought I knew, and wondering if I knew them as well as I thought I did. Some people may find that Owen’s extrapolations do not match their expectations, and this can be jarring, but also refreshing. It forced me to examine my assumptions. show less

Rounded up from a 2.5. As the Shadow of the Winter King tries to take control of both the Archipelago and the Summer Lands using the Spear of Destiny, the Caretakers and Rose must find a way to fulfill the prophecy that prevents this as well as halting the disintegration of the Keep of Time. With a variety of characters from the past, both literary and scientific, and a new character (Don Quixote), they work to save the two worlds from a terrible fate.

This book was very slow. It took way too long to get to the action, and even when things begin to happen, they happened slowly. Also, Owen got away from using fables and mythology, and did not really develop his characters much.

An interesting story (as usual) with some good ideas for life after death. (no zombies) I really enjoyed the appearances/disappearances of the Cheshire cat, and whom we're told he really is. This book could probably have been a good ending to the series, but it's just the middle so I'm adventuring on and hunting down the rest to read.

The Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica return to to go to war with a set of defectors who have joined forces with the Shadow of the Winter King. He is armed this time with the Spear of Destiny as well as the renegades and is looking to build an even more terrifying army of Dragons. World War II has begun in our world (the Summer Country) which seems connected to the war in the Archipelago and chaos is breaking loose everywhere.

Some new characters like Don Quixote join the Caretakers as they sail over the edge of the Archipelago to find an ancient sword that can defeat the Shadow energy. Definitely the weakest of the series though. I found the plot hard to follow and I'm frankly bored of them fighting the same energy in different show more forms again and again. It's like the boss battle at the end of a Japanese RPG game where you defeat it and then it goes ha ha ha and morphs into another form. Only this is the fourth book now and it's like there no original ideas... show less

Not as good as the first three - the ending felt anti-climatic and too simple - I was surprised to find this one so fast after the third book and I think it was too rushed - He is letting the world get more gimmicky with the trumps and pocket watches - Hopefully he can keep these elements from unraveling the rich tapestry he began with.